DanStrumpf

NEW YORK--The national average retail price of regular gasoline surged 13.7 cents a gallon to $3.645 a gallon, its highest since May, in the week ended Monday, the Energy Information Administration said.

The rise was the biggest one-week increase in prices since the week ended May 11, 2009. The steep jump was likely due to a series of refinery and pipeline issues that affected the gasoline market last week, particularly in the Midwest, said Brian Milne, refined fuels editor at brokerage Telvent DTN.

"Chicago prices went right through the roof," he said. "It turned out to be a big week last week."

Midwest prices saw the biggest increase, rising 25.7 cents to $3.772 a gallon, their highest since April 23.

A series of refinery and pipeline issues affected the gasoline market last week. The Illinois refinery of Petroleos de Venezuela SA's Citgo unit and BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) Whiting, Indiana, refinery experienced shutdowns last week. HollyFrontier Corp.
HFC, -1.44%
shut down a diesel hydrotreater at its refinery in Tulsa, Oklahoma, after a fire.

While the rise was the fifth straight week of national price increases, gasoline prices are still 2.9 cents, or 0.8%, lower than they were a year ago.

Nationwide retail prices are 11.4% below the record price of $4.114 a gallon hit July 7, 2008, the EIA data show.

In its July Short-Term Energy Outlook, the EIA said it expects gasoline prices this month to average $3.39 a gallon, down from $3.65 a year ago. That forecast is based on the price of U.S. benchmark crude oil averaging $87 a barrel this month, down from $97.30 a year ago.

The EIA said the price of crude oil accounts for 76% of the cost of gasoline.

Prices rose in three of the four regions, with prices falling slightly in the Rocky Mountain region.

The AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report said gasoline prices averaged $3.619 a gallon on Monday, up 13.3 cents from a week ago. The price is up 24.3 cents from a month ago and is down 6.6 cents from a year ago.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real-time last sale data for U.S. stock quotes reflect trades reported through Nasdaq only.
Intraday data delayed at least 15 minutes or per exchange requirements.